MASQUERADE IN AFRICA (NIGERIA)

Masquerade, according to oxford dictionary, is a type of party where people wear special costumes and masks over their faces to hide their identities.
In my country (Nigeria) We use to have this believe that some masquerades are not human, that they are ghost, we can as well classify them, we have those meant for adults they are those who some believe to be ghost, because of the juju(charm) they use. likewise there are those for children, they chase people around. In most villages women are not allowed to watch masquerades perform, each masquerade has a name.I could remember a funny event that happened, there was this baby close to a year old, (yet to walk) we were all siting in the garden, with the baby eventually we saw masquerades heading towards us, we ran and left the baby helpless, surprisingly the baby stood and took to his heel, we were all surprised and that was how the baby started walking.
Masquerades appear in ceremonies if they are invited.
Although some religion prohibits it because of the spiritual things involved.Its rare to find anyway,People no longer buy that idea but it is still practiced in most villages.

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